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L0 Series Shinkansen
The L0 Series Shinkansen is a high-speed maglev trainset that is to be used on the Chūō Shinkansen that is currently under construction. 14 pre-production cars were produced for JR Central for testing on the Yamanashi Maglev Test Line. History The first details of the L0 Series were revealed on 26 October 2010. The first L0 Series vehicle was unveiled in November 2012 at the Yamanashi Maglev Test Line. The first test running of the L0 Series began in June 2013 on the test line as a 5-car set, with the set later being lengthened to a 7-car set in September 2013, and then a 12-car set on 25 June 2014; this was later reverted back to a 7-car set later that year and the set was used for public preview runs starting in November. During the tests, the maximum speed of the test runs was gradually increased until it hit 500 km/h (311 mph) by July 2013. During testing on the 42.8 km (26.6 mi) track, the train set various speed and distance records. The train is still undergoing testing on the Yamanashi Maglev Test Track as of the time of writing. JR Central has expressed interest in the export of the L0 Series sets, and has employed local officials in the United States to lobby building a maglev line between Houston and Dallas; a line between Washington D.C. and Baltimore has received political support in the United States. JR Central's chairman Yoshiyuki Kasai said that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would like to speak to then-US President Barack Obama about the L0 Series during the former's visit to the US in 2015, but this has since been called into question; development partner Mitsubishi says that developmental talks have stalled due to the Trump administration having no clear stance on the implementation of high-speed rail in the United States. Specifications The end cars are 28 meters (92 ft) long, with the nose extending 15 meters (49 ft) for better aerodynamics. The intermediate cars are 24.3 meters (80 ft) long; all cars of the train have a boxier profile to allow for additional interior space. Due to the train's aerodynamics and its use of maglev technology, it has a very high top speed; services on the Chūō Shinkansen are planned to be run at 505 km/h (315 mph). Land speed record for railed vehicles On 16 April 2015, the 7-car L0 Series set set a world speed record for manned railed vehicles by hitting a speed of 590 km/h (367 mph) and sustained that speed for 19 seconds, breaking the previous record of 581 km/h (361 mph) as set by the MLX01 experimental maglev set in December 2003. The L0 Series set would break this record five days later on 21 April 2015, by hitting a very impressive 603 km/h (375 mph), which still stands. The train hit its top speed of 603 km/h about four minutes into a public preview run, with 49 JR Central employees on board the train. The L0 Series set sustained this speed for 10.8 seconds and traveled 1.8 km (1.1 mi) during that time. References *Wikipedia.org *Brochure Category:JR Group trains Category:Electric Trainsets Category:Maglev trainsets Category:Mitsubishi locomotives Category:Nippon Sharyo locomotives